Balancing Act

As I write this on the day of the Autumn Equinox, may the blessings of balance be with you. It’s not easy for me to say good bye to summer, nor is it always easy for me to maintain balance in my life. Since it still feels like summer on this 80-degree fall day, that one is not so hard this year, but always staying centered in my life is a continual practice.

I spend a lot of mental energy trying to maintain balance in my life. On this day of the Autumnal Equinox, I am reminded of an insight I had a couple of years ago, one that I still try to remember when my life feels out of balance. During an equinox, there is almost an equal number of hours of light and dark, as close to perfect balance as we get. But this only occurs two days a year, the other 363 days are “off balance.” So this insight reveals to me that even in nature, there are more times when it appears that things are not perfectly balanced. Being a perfectionist, this is a relief!

It also reminds me of the mysterious perfection of nature, which does have its extremes (more light-back to equal-more dark-back to equal) and then automatically restores balance by the natural order of things. This is important to remember since loss and change are part of this human experience and things are going to shake our balance. And even more important to remember is that, when it happens, we can seek a different kind of balance, through the natural order of things. Instead of instantly trying to fix things to restore balance or getting upset because every area of our life is not working perfectly, we can apply the practice of equanimity (it even sounds like equninox).

Equanimity is a beautiful spiritual practice where you remain centered, calm and accepting with whatever is happening in your life, be it what you would consider good or bad. You treat all situations and circumstances equally. Yes, I know, sounds crazy right? But this is what emotional and spiritual maturity is all about people. This is present-moment awareness, this is remaining centered in Spirit. This is the beautiful harmony that we see in nature. There are highs and lows; there is light and dark. Without one, we could not appreciate the other. It’s not a matter of controlling life so that we are not shaken up, it’s a matter of how we process the high moments and the low moments.

Balance does not mean that everything in our life is perfectly aligned. I’m not saying that we have to like everything that occurs in our life, but if you want to grow and have a truly rich experience of all of life, then let this realization be an awakening!

Steven Izen did. Who is that, you may ask? Are you wearing a Lokai bracelet, or do you own one or know of them, since they are everywhere now. Well, Steven Izen created them based on this realization which became the driving force behind Lokai, a bracelet that encourages one to be humble through the highs and hopeful through the lows.

So on this day when we let summer slip away, and embrace this new glorious season of autumn, let yourself be with both. Another way to practice equanimity is to embrace everything and attach to nothing. Embrace all the wonderful joys of the passing summer and then release it (that one is for me). Embrace all the wonder of this gorgeous fall, that is already appearing stunningly in Sussex County. Embrace both the highs and lows of your current life circumstances, reap the riches of the experiences. Try not to label them as good or bad. Don’t attach to any of them, because in the natural order of things, they too will pass.